Scout or Yeti?

[Michelle]

Easup, you are hilarious. I saw that whole thing, still cannot believe that guy got those tattoos. I choose to believe it wasn't permanent ink, anything else is beyond my comprehension.

Small update: The Yeti isn't up here now until next week. I will have to cool my heels a little longer...

[Michelle]

I like that phrase Inego; "more mature interior" Very apt. I shall adopt that in my future Skoda related conversations if that's alright by you.

Clarkson: "Michelle, tell us why you chose the Skoda over the plethora of SUV's flooding the market?"
Michelle: "Well Jeremy, one simply felt the Skoda had a more mature interior reflective of one's current lifestyle choice."

Yes, I do need to get out more.

[Inego]

Michelle - fine by me And, being a VAG vehicle, the Skodas even have the same light switch as a Porsche (the Panamera, at least). Mind you, it's pretty much the same as my old MkIV golf light switch as well.

[scoutau]

Time I jumped on the thread i think .
We did alot of research into buying our Skoda, overseas forums and friends as well as watching them for the last few years on 'Le tour de France"!
Michelle, the 2 sunvisors on drivers side are optional in Europe and I don't remember seeing them on the list when we selected options for our Scout. We own the blue Scout you will see zapping around The Ville. 2nd vehicle sold by the dealership and had it around 3 weeks. Handles the roads great around town and an absolute marvel going up and down the road to Paluma! Did that run on the weekend.

We live out of town a bit and do around 600 odd k a week in to work and school. Oldest Daughter on her "L"'s loves it as it also tells you when to change up and down in the gears to get maximum fuel efficiency and no lugging or over-revving from selecting the wrong gear! You can cruise around in 6th gear at 60kmh getting 2.7 - 3.1 l/100km! Average overall currently is around 5 l/100km.

Plenty of pickup with the Diesel for overtaking the roadtrains, the Auto setting for the climate control is great as well as the chemical "sniffer" in the air intake that closes the outside air intake and switches cabin air ventilation to recirc when strong chemical smells are detected.

We where interested in the Yeti but due to breakdown with the other family car, went for the Scout and not looking back either! The extra capacity in the rear of the Yeti is above seatback level, boot is shorter than Scout. The dealership had a white DSG scout for test driving but to get an idea of the manual there is a petrol manual octavia II liftback to try how the gearbox feels. We tried the manual sedan first then the white DSG scout to get the feeling of handling. We also had that white DSG Scout for one day last week whilst ours was in getting the towbar electrics re-coded as they hadn't been coded properly when the dealer fitted it, ours was the second Skoda sold by them and the first with Dealer fitted genuine options. Someone bought it the day after we had it and we saw it on the highway on the weekend. They also have a silver DSG Scout for testing as well. It parks as easily as a smaller car as well.

The Dealership is very helpful, the people are great, they really worked at finding the manual diesel Scout in country for urgent delivery. they have also set up service arrangements around the region, at least North and South, as this is currently the only dealer North of SEQ.

The wet season handling should be great and as we get flooding over the road out here, even though it isn't as high a clearance as a Landcruiser etc it should have less problems that most cars. Even though a Ford Territory looks to have higher clearance it has a lot hanging down underneath whereas the Scout is very tidy and has protective plates over the important parts. No nudge bar available for it to keep the beasts, roo's and crocs away but contemplating a car-bra to negate damage from those lovely thrown rocks from our lovelysealed gravel roads up here
Cheers.

[Michelle]

Thanks scoutau. I haven't seen your scout yet but I will be keeping an eye out now! Your posted the kind of info I need to know from someone who actually has the vehicle, and you live here too! I was behind a silver Octavia stopped for an accident near Railway Estate a few weeks back and nearly got out to talk to the guy just to see where he got it from etc. It was the first time I've ever seen a Skoda.

Unsealed and unrolled patches on what we laughingly call our roads are the bane of my existence right now. I just had to get a new windscreen thanks to a huge star in the drivers side, 7 days later I've got a chip in the passenger's side. Main roads should pay our bills and maybe they would pay to clean their work up properly. Rant over.

I've found the dealership good so far, but I haven't started to talk price with them yet. I am not expecting them to move much from the the RRP. It's good to know they are onto things in the after sales service though. Nothing worse than being mucked around after they make big promises.

Sounds like you do very similar k's to me, that mileage is better than I expected from the diesel manual so that's another bonus.

I really hope the Yeti at least comes with a nudge bar, it's bad the Scout doesn't. You can't get those plastic light and bonnet protectors or do you have Xenons? Dealer told me you can't have plastic covers with Xenons as they get too hot. That's the main reason I won't bother with Xenons, costs too much to replace and with the roads up here I'd be replacing them every year, guaranteed.

Finally saw the Yeti ad on TV last night. I would have liked to have seen and heard a bit more about the car itself. Still, at least they are advertising which is good for service and availability, but bad if they suddenly become very popular as they won't budge on price.

[brad]

I've found the dealership good so far, but I haven't started to talk price with them yet. I am not expecting them to move much from the the RRP. It's good to know they are onto things in the after sales service though. Nothing worse than being mucked around after they make big promises.

Why don't you expect them to move on price? Sure you pay a premium for transport up to FNQ but rents are cheaper. Aim for 5-10% off RRP.
Good luck with the after sales service. Pretty crap at the 2 dealers I've tried.

Have you thought of getting a quote from one of the Southern dealers & getting a cheap flight down & driving home?

You can't get those plastic light and bonnet protectors or do you have Xenons? Dealer told me you can't have plastic covers with Xenons as they get too hot. That's the main reason I won't bother with Xenons, costs too much to replace and with the roads up here I'd be replacing them every year, guaranteed.

The lights are plastic. They are pretty hard to break.

I thought HID/xenon bulbs ran cooler than halogens? They only draw 35w instead of 50w. Halogens work on superheating a wire filament, whereas HIDs are "exciting" gas. I'd suggest you do your own research on bulb temperature rather than just taking the dealers word for it.

Personally, I've replaced my halogen low beams with 3500k HIDs & wouldn't go back. They have almost made the high beams redundant.

If you really need stone protection, you could try some light skins or just get the bonnet, front bumper & lights (under door handles, mirrors, leading edge of roof, trailing edge of mudguards, etc) done in clear film.

[IBN]

Hi Michelle,
I've now been a Scout owner for nearly 3 years and have not had any regrets about my purchase - it's a terrific car.
Only a few issues:
The wheels appear prone to stone damage - dirt roads will give you pits in the finish.
Dust sealing around the tailgate - pretty much fixed under warranty with adjustment and a new seal.
Selection of tyres - the Dunlops that came with the car were excellent on bitumen in the dry and wet, but were not that good on gravel. Unfortunately there appears to be little choice in all-road tyres here in Australia for the Scout in comparison to that which is available for Outbacks and Foresters. I ended up sourcing tyres from Tirerack in the States when I had to replace my tyres recently.
Nudge bar? Did want one but could not find one. I suspect there is a lack of demand and because the Scout front grille is attached to the bonnet it might be a bit difficult to sort out clearance and make such an add- on aesthetically pleasing. I came up against this problem when trying to figure out how best to mount driving lights to the front of the car.
Xenons and protectors? I don't believe this to be a heat problem, but the usual issue with dirt and glare. Protectors are notorious for restricting efficient light transmission from the lights and would also not allow the headlight washers to work correctly, annoying other road users.
Being biased, I vote for the Scout
Cheers,
Ivars

[Michelle]

Thank you Ivars, that is all good to know. The 'little' problems only become apparent after purchase, unfortunately.

I was going to ask the dealer about tyres becasue I had a problem sourcing good tyres that didn't aqua plane for my Astra. I don't want that same problem again.

I'm not intending to get Xenons at this stage, unless this dealer can fit some sort of protector. There are far too many loose stones on the local roads for me to even consider being without protectors. I'm not sure if the Yeti has headlight washers, can't see it on the specs so will have to wait and see what can be done.

Hopefully the demo will arrive this week!

[scoutau]

Headlight washers only with the Xenons Michelle, required fit to reduce flaring caused by dirty lenses. Same reason why no headlight covers for xenons.

There are tyres available for Scout and Yeti in the ville, but not a wide range. However most large tyre outlets will get them in if notice is given, had to do this even with the wifes Daewoo, so not restricted to Skoda sizes. The factory fitted Dunlops performed without a single slip in that downpoor and storm on Friday night, first rain for a few months and greasy roads and roundabouts made no trouble on the way home from The Strand.

I have heard of Kumho tyres being pretty good and long lasting as well as Michelin HP and LC tyres for the Scout, all being available as they suit the following (Michelin list: For Michelin had to go to French site and do first look up as Skoda isn't listed on Australian site!):
225/50R17 94 Y Audi A6, Ford Falcon, Holden Calais / Statesman, Lexus GS 300, Mitsubishi KJ Verada
225/50R17 98 V Nissan Maxima, Peugeot 607
225/50R17 94 W BMW 5 Series

These cars are all on the road up here so chances are the size will be in stock. Not that I need any yet, the Scout has only been on the road for a couple of weeks so far .

[Inego]

The factory fitted Dunlops performed without a single slip in that downpoor and storm on Friday night, first rain for a few months and greasy roads and roundabouts made no trouble on the way home from The Strand.

Mine came fitted with Pirellis. They've been fine so far (and I haven't faced the dreaded Dunlop tyre noise with them) and should make 25k fairly easily - admittedly mostly suburban driving.

[IBN]

Ah yes. Tyres in 225/50R17 size are pretty much available from every manufacturer here in Oz, however if you want an M+S type tyre such as a Yokohama Geolander for example, you might be out of luck. The M+S designation is pretty much a compromise tyre, but if you find yourself on a snowy road, every bit of extra traction is appreciated.

[brad]

Tirerack list about 60 All-Season type tyres in 225/50x17. Viable & generally cheaper alternative than the limited choice in Australia.

[IBN]

Yep. That's what I ended up doing - initial impression on the Continental Extreme Contact DWS quite favorable.

[Inego]

Ah yes. Tyres in 225/50R17 size are pretty much available from every manufacturer here in Oz, however if you want an M+S type tyre such as a Yokohama Geolander for example, you might be out of luck. The M+S designation is pretty much a compromise tyre, but if you find yourself on a snowy road, every bit of extra traction is appreciated.

But do you really want to compromise for the 99.9% of the time you're not on M+S - it was a relief to bin the geolanders on my old Outback and, if I'd bought the new Outback rather than the Scout (which I almost did) I was driving straight to a tire place after I picked it up to replace them.

Never tried the replacement c-drives on snow, but they were fine on gravel and even OK on the beach, and 200% better than the geolanders on the road.

[brad]

Wife has an Outback with Geolanders at the moment.

I must say, it's been a long time since I've driven on a tyre with such low wet weather grip levels. Wet corners that I'd comfortably do 100kmh with the Octy/Primacy combo turn into an 80kmh four wheel drift in the Outback. Exceedingly controllable because of the progressive loss of grip & low speed but it makes you wonder how many people get caught out.